Communication system providing data transfer direction determination based upon motion and related methods

ABSTRACT

A communication system may include at least one electronic device configured to wirelessly communicate via a short-range communications format, and at least one mobile communications device. The at least one mobile communications device may include a short-range communications device configured to wirelessly communicate with the at least one electronic device via the short-range communications format, and a controller coupled to the short-range communications device. The controller may be configured to determine a state of movement of the at least mobile communications device, and determine a direction of communication with respect to the at least one electronic device based upon the determined state of movement.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/955,066, filed Nov. 29, 2010, the contents ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference into this application as ifset forth herein in full.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This application relates generally to the field of communications, andmore particularly, to electronic devices and related methods that usenear-field communication (NFC).

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Mobile communication systems continue to grow in popularity and havebecome an integral part of both personal and business communications.Various mobile devices now incorporate Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)features such as calendars, address books, task lists, calculators, memoand writing programs, media players, games, etc. These multi-functiondevices usually allow electronic mail (email) messages to be sent andreceived wirelessly, as well as access the Internet via a cellularnetwork and/or a wireless local area network (WLAN), for example.

Some mobile devices incorporate contactless card technology and/or nearfield communication (NFC) chips. NFC technology is used for contactlessshort-range communications based on radio frequency identification(RFID) standards, using magnetic field induction to enable communicationbetween electronic devices, including mobile wireless communicationsdevices. This short-range high frequency wireless communicationstechnology exchanges data between devices over a short distance, such asonly a few centimeters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system inaccordance with one example aspect.

FIG. 2 is schematic block diagram of an alternative embodiment of thesystem of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are acceleration vs. time graphs for the mobile wirelesscommunications devices of FIG. 2.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are flow diagrams illustrating method aspects associatedwith the systems of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIGS. 7 through 10 are front views of example mobile wirelesscommunications devices of the system of FIG. 2 illustrating various usecases.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are acceleration versus time graphs for the system ofFIG. 1 illustrating various use cases when the electronic device isstationary or without motion sensing capabilities.

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram illustrating example componentsthat may be used with the mobile wireless communications devices ofFIGS. 1-2 and 7-10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present description is made with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which example embodiments are shown. However, manydifferent embodiments may be used, and thus the description should notbe construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather,these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thoroughand complete. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout, and primenotation is used to indicate similar elements or steps in alternativeembodiments.

Generally speaking, a communication system is disclosed herein which mayinclude at least one electronic device configured to wirelesslycommunicate via a short-range communications format, and at least onemobile communications device. The at least one mobile communicationsdevice may include a short-range communications device configured towirelessly communicate with the at least one electronic device via theshort-range communications format, and a controller coupled to theshort-range communications device. The controller may be configured todetermine a state of movement of the at least one mobile communicationsdevice, and determine a direction of communication with respect to theat least one electronic device based upon the determined state ofmovement. As such, movement (or lack thereof) of the mobilecommunications device may advantageously be used to determine whethertransmitting data (e.g., digital content data) to, receiving data from,or exchanging data with, the electronic device is appropriate.

More particularly, the at least one mobile communications device mayfurther include an accelerometer coupled to the controller, and thecontroller may be further configured to determine the state of movementof the at least one mobile communications device based upon theaccelerometer. The controller may also be configured to transmit digitalcontent data to the at least one electronic device based upon determinedmovement of the at least one mobile communications device, and toreceive digital content data from the at least one electronic devicebased upon no movement of the at least one mobile communications device.

In addition, the at least one mobile communications device may furtherinclude a portable housing carrying the short-range communicationscircuit and the controller, and the controller may be further configuredto determine an impact to the portable housing and determine thedirection of communication with respect to the at least one electronicdevice also based upon the determined impact to the portable housing.The controller may also be configured to determine a magnitude ofmovement of the at least one mobile communications device, and determinethe direction of communication with respect to the at least oneelectronic device also based upon the determined magnitude of movement.

The at least one electronic device may be further configured todetermine movement thereof, and the at least one electronic device andthe controller may be configured to exchange digital content datatherebetween based upon respective determined movement. By way ofexample, the short-range communications device may comprise a Near-FieldCommunication (NFC) device. Moreover, the mobile communications devicemay further include a wireless transceiver carried by the portablehousing and configured to communicate via a wireless communicationsnetwork.

A related mobile communications device, such as the one describedbriefly above, and a related communication method are also provided. Themethod may include determining a state of movement of the at leastmobile communications device, and determining a direction ofcommunication with respect to the at least one electronic device basedupon the determined state of movement.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium for a mobile communicationsdevice, such as the one described briefly above, is also provided. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium may have computer executableinstructions for causing the mobile communications device to performsteps comprising determining a state of movement of the mobilecommunications device, and determining a direction of communication withrespect to the at least one electronic device based upon the determinedstate of movement.

By way of background, mobile communications devices (also referred to as“mobile devices” herein), such as portable cellular telephones, etc. arebeing equipped with short-range communications capabilities (e.g., NFC)to enable near field communication of information or data between mobiledevices as well as other electronic devices (e.g., NFC tags, etc.). Datasuch as digital content data (e.g., electronic files, etc.) stored inthe memory of one mobile device may be transmitted to another mobiledevice (or other electronic device, etc.) via NFC communications, orsuch data may be exchanged between the devices.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 5, a communication system 30illustratively includes an electronic device 41 which is configured tocommunicate via a short-range communications format (e.g., NFC). Thesystem 30 further illustratively includes a mobile device 31 whichincludes a portable housing 32, a short-range communication circuit 33(e.g., an NFC circuit) carried by the portable housing and configured tocommunicate via the short-range communications format, and a controller34 carried by the portable housing and coupled to the short-rangecommunications circuit.

NFC is a short-range wireless communications technology in whichNFC-enabled devices are “swiped,” “bumped” or otherwise moved in closeproximity to communicate. In one non-limiting example implementation,NFC may operate at 13.56 MHz and with an effective range of about 10 cm,but other suitable versions of near-field communication which may havedifferent operating frequencies, effective ranges, etc., for example,may also be used.

By way of example, various mobile devices that may be used for theembodiments described herein include portable or personal media players(e.g., MP3 players, video players, etc.), remote controls (e.g.,television or stereo remotes, etc.), portable gaming devices, portableor mobile telephones, smartphones, tablet computers, etc. Furthermore,the controller 34 may be implemented using a combination of hardware(e.g., microprocessor, etc.) and non-transitory computer-readable mediumcomponents having computer-executable instructions for performing thevarious operations described herein. Moreover, the electronic device 41may also be a mobile device, although it may be stationary or otherwiseintended not to be readily portable, such as a television, stereo,desktop computer, etc. In some embodiments, the electronic device maycomprise an NFC tag (e.g., a poster tag, etc.), for example.

Beginning at Block 50, the controller 34 may be configured tocommunicate with the electronic device 41 via the short-rangecommunications (e.g., NFC) circuit 33 when in proximity therewith. Thecontroller 34 is further configured to determine a state of movement ofthe mobile device 31, at Block 51, and to determine a direction ofcommunication with respect to the electronic device 41 based upon thedetermined state of movement, at Block 52, which concludes the methodillustrated in FIG. 5 (Block 53). As such, it may advantageously bedetermined if the mobile device 31 is attempting to transmit data (e.g.,digital content data) to the electronic device 41, receive datatherefrom, or both (i.e., to exchange data therewith). In other words,by “direction of communication” it is meant which way digital contentdata is “flowing”, i.e., from the mobile device 31 to the electronicdevice 41, from the electronic device 41 to the mobile device 31, orboth. By way of example, the digital content data may include contacts(e.g., digital business cards), audio, video, images, addresses orappointments, documents, applications, financial information, securityinformation, etc.

In the present example, the mobile device 31 is moving toward theelectronic device 41 which is stationary. As such, the controller 34determines that it should be transmitting data to the electronic device41 due to the movement of the mobile device 31. On the other hand, ifthe controller 34 determines that the mobile device is not moving priorto the portable housing 32 being bumped with the electronic device 41 orat the point where NFC communication otherwise commences due to closeproximity, then the controller 34 determines that it is to receivedigital content data from the electronic device 41. However, it shouldbe noted that this order may be reversed in some embodiments (i.e.,movement signifies data is to be received, and no movement signifiesthat digital content data is to be transmitted). In some exampleembodiments, movement of the mobile device 31 toward the electronicdevice 41 signifies that data is to be transmitted by the mobile device31, and movement of the mobile device 31 away from the electronic device41 signifies that data is to be received by the mobile device 31.

Pre-selection of data qualified to transmit via NFC communications maybe a precondition of data exchange in some embodiments. For example, abusiness card (e.g., a personal address book contact) for the mobiledevice 31 owner may be pre-selected as enabled for communication viaNFC, while the remainder of the address book would not be pre-selectedor designated for communication. In this way, the business card may be a“default” file that is automatically transferred to a different mobiledevice upon movement of a given mobile device to initiate NFCcommunications.

Referring additionally to FIGS. 2-4 and 6, in this example theelectronic device 41′ is also a mobile device similar to the mobiledevice 31′. Here both of the mobile devices 31′, 41′ have NFCshort-range communication circuits 33′, 43′ and further include anaccelerometer 35′, 45′ carried by their portable housings 32′, 42′ andcoupled to their controllers 34′, 44′, respectively. As such, thecontrollers 34′, 44′ may advantageously use the accelerometers 35′, 45′to determine the respective states of movement of the mobile devices31′, 41′.

Acceleration graphs of the mobile devices 31′, 41′ are shown in FIGS. 3and 4, respectively. It should be noted that the example accelerationgraphs provided herein are schematic in nature and provided forreference purposes, but are not graphs of actual accelerometermeasurement data. In the present example, the mobile device 31′ is movedor accelerated beginning at time t.sub.0 until it collides with or bumpsthe mobile device 41′ at time t.sub.1. That is, the bump is physicalcontact between the portable housings 32′, 42′. As such, theacceleration curve for the mobile device 31′ ramps up between timest.sub.0 and t.sub.1, while the acceleration curve for the mobile device41′ between these times is relatively horizontal or flat. A thresholdmay be used to determine whether movement has occurred, such as whetherthe slope of the acceleration curve exceeds a threshold level. Thus,little or slight movement may be considered as not moving, for example.

It should be noted that in some embodiments, movement of a mobile devicemay be determined or detected by a component other than anaccelerometer. For example, this may be done based upon movementdetected from an optical sensor (e.g., a charge-coupled device (CCD)),gyroscope, compass, etc.

Upon detection of the bump, at Block 55′, the NFC circuits 33′, 43′ maybegin communicating (e.g., they may be turned on or otherwise enabledfor communication), at Block 51′, and the controllers 34′, 44′ mayadvantageously determine whether their respective mobile devices 31′,41′ were moving prior to or at the time of the bump based upon the rampor slope of the acceleration curve, at Block 56′. In the case where theNFC circuits 33′, 43′ are powered on or awakened from a sleep mode bythe physical contact of the mobile devices 31′, 41′, then these circuitsmay optionally be turned off or returned to a power-saving or sleep modeonce NFC communications are complete, at Block 62′.

It should be noted, however, that a bump or physical contact of themobile devices 31′, 41′ is not required in all embodiments. That is, themobile devices 31′, 41′ need not actually physically contact in allembodiments for NFC (or other short-range) communications to take place.As such, the triggering event for when to check for movement may be whenNFC communications are first initiated (i.e., the NFC circuits 33′, 43′first come in range and begin communicating with one another), forexample. For instance, one or both of the NFC circuits 33′, 43′ may beoperating in an active NFC mode and powered on prior to coming inproximity with each other, which will result in the detection of oneanother and commencement of NFC communication.

In the case where the mobile device 31′ was in motion prior to the bumpbut the mobile device 41′ was not, the controller 34′ conveys itsdigital content data to the controller 44′ via the NFC circuit 33′, 43′,at Blocks 56′, 57′. In the opposite case, i.e., where the mobile device31′ was not in motion prior to the bump but the mobile device 41′ was inmotion, then the controller 44′ conveys its digital content data to thecontroller 34′ via the NFC circuits 33′, 43′, at Block 59′.

By way of example, in FIG. 7 the mobile device 31′ is shown movingtoward a mobile device 41′. In this example embodiment, the mobiledevice 31′ further includes a touch screen display 70′, input buttons71′, and an audio output transducer 75′, all of which are carried by thehousing 32′ and coupled to the controller 34′. Moreover, the mobiledevice 41′ illustratively includes a display 80′, a track ball 82′ and akeypad 83′ (which serve as input devices), and an audio outputtransducer 85′, all of which are carried by the housing 42′ and coupledto the controller 44′. In the example of FIG. 7, the mobile device 31′is initially displaying a contact “business card” (“Business Card A”) onthe display 70′ prior to contact with the stationary mobile device 41′.That is, displaying a digital content item (e.g., contact, image, etc.)on the display may designate that item for transfer upon movement of themobile device 31′ into contact with the mobile device 41′, although inother embodiments content may be pre-selected for transfer via otherapproaches, as discussed above. Once the bump occurs, the controller 34′transmits the business card to the controller 44′, as seen in FIG. 8.This transfer may be accomplished by the NFC circuits 33′, 43′, or insome embodiments the transfer may be performed via a separatecommunications path, such as via the wireless transceivers 36′, 46′(e.g., Bluetooth, etc.).

In the case where both mobile devices 31′, 41′ were in motion just priorto the bump (i.e., they bumped each other), then the controllers 33′,43′ exchange respective digital content data, at Block 60′. An exampleimplementation of this case is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. As seen in FIG.9, each of the mobile devices 31′, 41′ is displaying a business card(“Business Card A”, “Business Card B”) on its respective display 70′,80′ and are moving toward one another. After the bump occurs, thedigital business cards are exchanged between the mobile devices 31′,41′, as seen in FIG. 10.

In the examples of FIGS. 7-10, both of the mobile devices 31′, 41′ havemotion detection capabilities (i.e., the accelerometers 35′, 45′).However, referring again to FIG. 1, in some embodiments the electronicdevice 41 may be stationary or not have motion detection capabilities.For example, the electronic device 41 may be a personal computer, etc.,with NFC capabilities (e.g., an NFC peripheral) but no motion detectioncapabilities. Yet, it may still be desirable to utilize the motion ofthe mobile device 31 to not only transmit digital content data to theelectronic device 41, but also to receive digital content data therefrom(or exchange digital content data therewith). These different operationsmay be invoked by using a given series of movements or bumps to signifya respective data transfer operation.

For example, movement followed by a bump and then a stop (no movement oracceleration), i.e., a “bump-stop” sequence, as shown in FIG. 3, may beused to indicate that digital content is to be transferred to theelectronic device 41. Note that when implementing the “bump-stop” mode,the motion detection for device 31 may be determined by detection of asound associated with a bump resulting from the motion, by monitoring amicrophone or other transducer coupled to device 31, thereby eliminatingthe necessity of accelerometer determined motion. To receive digitalcontent data from the electronic device 41, the mobile device 31 may bemoved until a bump occurs, and then “pulled back” from the electronicdevice (a “bump-pull back” sequence), as shown in FIG. 11. Here, thepull back occurs at time t.sub.2, and is indicated by acceleration of agreater magnitude (i.e., a greater slope on the acceleration graph) thanthe acceleration preceding the bump. That is, the magnitude of themovement or acceleration may be used to signify which digital (datacontent) transfer operation (and, therefore, direction) is to be used.Another example sequence that may be used to indicate that digitalcontent data is to be received or transferred from the electronic device41 to the mobile device 31 is a “bump-bump-stop” sequence. Note thatwhen implementing the “bump-bump-stop” mode, the motion detection fordevice 31 may be resulting from the motion, by monitoring a microphoneor other transducer coupled to device 31 thereby eliminating thenecessity of accelerometer determined motion.

An example sequence which may be used to indicate an exchange of digitalcontent data between the mobile device 31 and the electronic device 41is shown in FIG. 12. In particular, this is a “bump-bump-pull back”sequence. It will be appreciated, however, that the foregoing sequencesare merely provided by way of example, and that the various sequencescould be assigned to different operations in different embodiments, orthat other similar sequences may also be used.

Example components of a mobile wireless communications device 1000 thatmay be used in accordance with the above-described embodiments arefurther described below with reference to FIG. 13. The device 1000illustratively includes a housing 1200, a keypad or keyboard 1400 and anoutput device 1600. The output device shown is a display 1600, which maycomprise a full graphic LCD. Other types of output devices mayalternatively be utilized. A processing device 1800 is contained withinthe housing 1200 and is coupled between the keypad 1400 and the display1600. The processing device 1800 controls the operation of the display1600, as well as the overall operation of the mobile device 1000, inresponse to actuation of keys on the keypad 1400.

The housing 1200 may be elongated vertically, or may take on other sizesand shapes (including clamshell housing structures). The keypad mayinclude a mode selection key, or other hardware or software forswitching between text entry and telephony entry.

In addition to the processing device 1800, other parts of the mobiledevice 1000 are shown schematically in FIG. 13. These include acommunications subsystem 1001; a short-range communications subsystem1020; the keypad 1400 and the display 1600, along with otherinput/output devices 1060, 1080, 1100, 1120 and 1900; as well as memorydevices 1160, 1180 and various other device subsystems 1201. The mobiledevice 1000 may comprise a two-way RF communications device having dataand, optionally, voice communications capabilities. In addition, themobile device 1000 may have the capability to communicate with othercomputer systems via the Internet.

Operating system software executed by the processing device 1800 isstored in a persistent store, such as the flash memory 1160, but may bestored in other types of memory devices, such as a read only memory(ROM) or similar storage element. In addition, system software, specificdevice applications, or parts thereof, may be temporarily loaded into avolatile store, such as the random access memory (RAM) 1180.Communications signals received by the mobile device may also be storedin the RAM 1180.

The processing device 1800, in addition to its operating systemfunctions, enables execution of software applications 1300A-1300N on thedevice 1000. A predetermined set of applications that control basicdevice operations, such as data and voice communications 1300A and13008, may be installed on the device 1000 during manufacture. Inaddition, a personal information manager (PIM) application may beinstalled during manufacture. The PIM may be capable of organizing andmanaging data items, such as e-mail, calendar events, voice mails,appointments, and task items. The PIM application may also be capable ofsending and receiving data items via a wireless network 1401. The PIMdata items may be seamlessly integrated, synchronized and updated viathe wireless network 1401 with corresponding data items stored orassociated with a host computer system.

Communication functions, including data and voice communications, areperformed through the communications subsystem 1001, and possiblythrough the short-range communications subsystem. The communicationssubsystem 1001 includes a receiver 1500, a transmitter 1520, and one ormore antennas 1540 and 1560. In addition, the communications subsystem1001 also includes a processing module, such as a digital signalprocessor (DSP) 1580, and local oscillators (LOs) 1601. The specificdesign and implementation of the communications subsystem 1001 isdependent upon the communications network in which the mobile device1000 is intended to operate. For example, a mobile device 1000 mayinclude a communications subsystem 1001 designed to operate with theMobitex™, Data TAC™ or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) mobile datacommunications networks, and also designed to operate with any of avariety of voice communications networks, such as AMPS, TDMA, CDMA,WCDMA, PCS, GSM, EDGE, etc. Other types of data and voice networks, bothseparate and integrated, may also be utilized with the mobile device1000. The mobile device 1000 may also be compliant with othercommunications standards such as 3GSM, 3GPP, UMTS, 4G, etc.

Network access requirements vary depending upon the type ofcommunication system. For example, in the Mobitex and DataTAC networks,mobile devices are registered on the network using a unique personalidentification number or PIN associated with each device. In GPRSnetworks, however, network access is associated with a subscriber oruser of a device. A GPRS device therefore typically involves use of asubscriber identity module, commonly referred to as a SIM card, in orderto operate on a GPRS network.

When required network registration or activation procedures have beencompleted, the mobile device 1000 may send and receive communicationssignals over the communication network 1401. Signals received from thecommunications network 1401 by the antenna 1540 are routed to thereceiver 1500, which provides for signal amplification, frequency downconversion, filtering, channel selection, etc., and may also provideanalog to digital conversion. Analog-to-digital conversion of thereceived signal allows the DSP 1580 to perform more complexcommunications functions, such as demodulation and decoding. In asimilar manner, signals to be transmitted to the network 1401 areprocessed (e.g. modulated and encoded) by the DSP 1580 and are thenprovided to the transmitter 1520 for digital to analog conversion,frequency up conversion, filtering, amplification and transmission tothe communication network 1401 (or networks) via the antenna 1560.

In addition to processing communications signals, the DSP 1580 providesfor control of the receiver 1500 and the transmitter 1520. For example,gains applied to communications signals in the receiver 1500 andtransmitter 1520 may be adaptively controlled through automatic gaincontrol algorithms implemented in the DSP 1580.

In a data communications mode, a received signal, such as a text messageor web page download, is processed by the communications subsystem 1001and is input to the processing device 1800. The received signal is thenfurther processed by the processing device 1800 for an output to thedisplay 1600, or alternatively to some other auxiliary I/O device 1060.A device may also be used to compose data items, such as e-mailmessages, using the keypad 1400 and/or some other auxiliary I/O device1060, such as a touchpad, a rocker switch, a thumb-wheel, or some othertype of input device. The composed data items may then be transmittedover the communications network 1401 via the communications subsystem1001.

In a voice communications mode, overall operation of the device issubstantially similar to the data communications mode, except thatreceived signals are output to a speaker 1100, and signals fortransmission are generated by a microphone 1120. Alternative voice oraudio I/O subsystems, such as a voice message recording subsystem, mayalso be implemented on the device 1000. In addition, the display 1600may also be utilized in voice communications mode, for example todisplay the identity of a calling party, the duration of a voice call,or other voice call related information.

The short-range communications subsystem enables communication betweenthe mobile device 1000 and other proximate systems or devices, whichneed not necessarily be similar devices. For example, the short-rangecommunications subsystem 1020 may include an infrared device andassociated circuits and components, or a Bluetooth™ or NFCcommunications module to provide for communication withsimilarly-enabled systems and devices.

Many modifications and other embodiments will come to the mind of oneskilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it isunderstood that various modifications and embodiments are intended to beincluded within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile communication device comprising: amemory that stores executable instructions; a short-range communicationdevice that wirelessly communicates via a short-range communicationformat, and a controller coupled to the memory and the short-rangecommunication device, wherein the controller, responsive to executingthe executable instructions, performs operations comprising: detecting atriggering event for movement determination; responsive to thetriggering event, determining a state of movement of the mobilecommunication device and an electronic device, wherein the determiningof the state of movement includes determining whether the mobilecommunication device and the electronic device moved toward one another;and determining whether to transmit data to the electronic device,receive data from the electronic device, or both transmit data to andreceive data from the electronic device, based upon the determined stateof movement of the mobile communication device and the electronicdevice.
 2. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the stateof movement is determined without a physical contact between the mobilecommunication device and the electronic device.
 3. The mobilecommunication device of claim 1, wherein the triggering event comprisesinitiation of short-range communication between the mobile communicationdevice and the electronic device.
 4. The mobile communication device ofclaim 1, wherein the triggering event comprises a determined proximitybetween the mobile communication device and the electronic device. 5.The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the triggering eventcomprises a physical contact between the mobile communication device andthe electronic device.
 6. The mobile communication device of claim 1,further comprising a movement detection sensor coupled to thecontroller, wherein the controller determines the state of movement ofthe mobile communication device based upon movement data received fromthe movement detection sensor, wherein the movement detection sensorcomprises an accelerometer, an optical sensor, a gyroscope, a compass ora combination thereof.
 7. The mobile communication device of claim 1,wherein the controller transmits digital content data to the electronicdevice based upon a determination that the state of movement includesthe mobile communication device moving toward the electronic device andthe electronic device not moving.
 8. The mobile communication device ofclaim 1, wherein the controller receives digital content data from theelectronic device based upon a determination that the state of movementincludes the electronic device moving toward the mobile communicationdevice and the mobile communication device not moving.
 9. The mobilecommunication device of claim 1, wherein the controller receives digitalcontent data from the electronic device based upon a determination thatthe state of movement includes the mobile communication device movingaway from the electronic device.
 10. The mobile communication device ofclaim 1, wherein the controller receives digital content data from theelectronic device based upon a determination that the state of movementincludes the mobile communication device moving toward the electronicdevice followed by the mobile communication device moving away from theelectronic device.
 11. The mobile communication device of claim 10,wherein the state of movement further includes physical contact betweenthe mobile communication device and the electronic device.
 12. Themobile communication device of claim 1, wherein the controllerdetermines a magnitude of movement of the mobile communication device,wherein the determining of the state of movement is based in part on thedetermined magnitude of movement.
 13. The mobile communication device ofclaim 1, wherein the short-range communication device comprises aNear-Field Communication (NFC) device.
 14. The mobile communicationdevice of claim 1, further comprising a wireless transceiver thatenables communicating via a wireless communication network.
 15. A methodcomprising: responsive to a triggering event, determining, by aprocessor of a mobile communication device, a state of movement of themobile communication device and an electronic device, wherein thedetermining of the state of movement includes determining whether themobile communication device and the electronic device moved toward oneanother; and determining, by the processor, whether to transmit data tothe electronic device, receive data from the electronic device, or bothtransmit data to and receive data from the electronic device, utilizinga short range communication device of the mobile communication device,based upon the determined state of movement of the mobile communicationdevice and the electronic device.
 16. The method of claim 15, whereinthe triggering event comprises initiation of short-range communicationbetween the mobile communication device and the electronic device, adetermined proximity between the mobile communication device and theelectronic device, a physical contact between the mobile communicationdevice and the electronic device, or a combination thereof.
 17. Themethod of claim 15, further comprising determining, by the processor, amagnitude of movement of the mobile communication device, wherein thedetermining of the state of movement is based in part on the determinedmagnitude of movement.
 18. The method of claim 15, further comprisingtransmitting digital content data to the electronic device based upon adetermination that the state of movement includes the mobilecommunication device moving toward the electronic device.
 19. The methodof claim 15, further comprising receiving digital content data from theelectronic device based upon a determination that the state of movementincludes the electronic device moving toward the mobile communicationdevice.
 20. A computer-readable storage device comprising executableinstructions which, responsive to being executed by a processor of amobile communication device, cause the processor to perform operationscomprising: responsive to a triggering event, determining a state ofmovement of the mobile communication device and an electronic device,wherein the determining of the state of movement includes determiningwhether the mobile communication device and the electronic device movedtoward one another; and determining whether to transmit data to theelectronic device, receive data from the electronic device, or bothtransmit data to and receive data from the electronic device, utilizinga short range communication device of the mobile communication device,based upon the determined state of movement of the mobile communicationdevice and the electronic device.